In choosing to revoke the honorary degree that Ms. Hirsi Ali so richly deserves, you have implicitly placed greater value upon the “feelings” of individuals over the lives of hundreds of thousands of women around the world. Those criticizing her here, in America, have the privilege of living in a society where they are able to speak. But who will speak for the others?

I do not want to take up too much of your time. I understand that you are a busy man and that you have been tasked with running a university whose tradition of upholding excellence and moral resoluteness traces back to the days of its founding. But it is in that same spirit of excellence that I feel compelled–as a simple citizen of this great country–to question your recent decision to rescind the honorary degree you were initially going to bestow upon Ms. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a human rights activist and feminist who has done so much to advance the cause of women’s rights in the world.

I understand that there are students at Brandeis University who take issue with Ms. Hirsi Ali’s views on Islam and the Muslim world. Moreover, many in the muslim community feel offended and insulted by her views on this topic. Indeed, they have pressured you into making this decision.

What a beautiful country we live in, President Lawrence, where students and citizens are able to voice their opinions in a free and open society. Yet here is a stark irony. These students have the temerity to critique someone because of her views, but they do not see fit in affording her the same right to critique views she too deems insulting. In making your decision you have chosen to sanction one topic of criticism while denying the right of individuals to criticize another.

But sir, you must see the moral ramifications of the decision you have made. It is a question of priorities and you have tragically made the mistake of choosing the wrong one. In choosing to revoke the honorary degree that Ms. Hirsi Ali so richly deserves, you have implicitly placed greater value upon the “feelings” of individuals over the lives of hundreds of thousands of women around the world. Those criticizing her here, in America, have the privilege of living in a society where they are able to speak. But who will speak for the others?

Who will speak for Sarah and Amina Said, two teenagers in the prime of their life who were murdered by their father in 2008 in Texas, their bodies left bloodied and mutilated in a Taxi cab because they were considered to be too “Western.” Will you speak for them sir, or is that too going to be found to be too “insulting” to certain individuals to discuss? Will that also be too “offensive” to be grappled with?

Who will speak for Morsal, a German Afghani young woman of 16, stabbed twenty-times in a parking lot by her brother? Who will speak for Rasha Abu Arra killed in the West Bank in a so-called “honor killing.” She was a mother of six children and her body was left hanging on a tree. She could not exercise her right to free speech. She could not exercise her right to disagree. She could not exercise her right to freely express. So who will speak for her? Will you speak for her? Or are the petty hurt feelings of dissenting naysayers worth more than her life?

Who will speak for Leyla Hussein, whose genitals were ripped open and sliced apart with a blade when she was only 7 years old in Somalia? Will you speak for her, Mr. Lawrence? Or will you simply tell her that this issue cannot be discussed and that a woman who takes up her cause and the cause of thousands of other women cannot be heard because people take “offense” to her.

Will you speak for Ayesha, forced into a marriage by her family in Pakistan and repeatedly raped during a four month ordeal? She did not have the luxury of worrying about “offending” people by her speech since her freedom was snatched away from her as her husband forced himself on her routinely.

About the Author:Chloe Valdary is a pro-Israel activist at New Orleans University, where she founded "Allies for Israel."

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Imported and Older Comments:

As Muslims and Islam are pushing to allow child rape and continue marriage of 6 year old little girls people are going to make an arguement for these perverted people and a young women who went through their evils and sheds light on it she is persecuted. Way to go world. Yahweh says woe to those who call good evil and evil good. Watch out moon god allah and child molester mohammed how people follow this religon and slaughter each other for allah is beyond my pay grade of stupid.

As Muslims and Islam are pushing to allow child rape and continue marriage of 6 year old little girls people are going to make an arguement for these perverted people and a young women who went through their evils and sheds light on it she is persecuted. Way to go world. Yahweh says woe to those who call good evil and evil good. Watch out moon god allah and child molester mohammed how people follow this religon and slaughter each other for allah is beyond my pay grade of stupid.

I fully agree with this note and also feel ashamed that a university as Brandis had accepted the position of Muslim fanatics who not only disagree with what this brave woman says, but also actively attempt to destroy Israel and Judaism to have the world under the yoke of a religious system that favors a few and keeps the most in the Dark Ages.

What a brilliant letter, Chloe. Thank you for saying the thoughts that I have been thinking, but could never put them into words as you have done. I too truly hope that President Lawrence does the right thing and he, and Brandeis University reverse their decision and honour this very courageous lady, Ayn Hirsi Ali.

Well said, Miss Valdary. You are either with the party of life or the party of death. The party of liberty or the party of oppression. Ayaan Hirsi Ali stand brvely with life and liberty. The politically correct Pres. Lawrence lacks the courage to do the same. He belongs to the politically correct elite who run our universities and the media.

Two of my children are graduates of Brandeis. I am certain that Past President Yehudah Reinharz would have called this differently. This is outrageous and brazenly racist. Shame on President Lawrece for cavingin to fringe haters of groups other than muslim oppressors.

I read Ayan Hirsi Ali's "Infidel" several years ago, and it has haunted me since. This woman is a true modern day hero, and what Brandeis has done is nothing short of shameful. I have just left a thoughtful message for Mr. Fred Lawrence, president of Brandeis University, who can be reached at 1-781-736-2003 via voice recognition. I hope others will call or write, as Ms. Valdary has done.

Wonderful letter, Chloe. How sad that a President of a major liberal university would seek to muffle the voice of a visionary pioneer in women's rights and calls the Muslim world what it is, a hateful society. Shame on Brandeis for promulgating hatred and antisemitism. Shame, shame when free discourse is trampled on in academia.

Thank you Chloe for expressing the opinion of intelligent, thinking and aware men and women around the world. Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a modern day hero, who speaks the truth. What a sad reflection that the Moral Compass is so distorted by a University President, tainted by DARWAH who seems unaware of the plot, and brings deep shame to an institute of high learning. Please see this open letter to Fred Lawrence from History Professor Jay Bergman http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/jay-bergman/an-open-letter-to-brandeis-president-frederick-lawrence/

I would like to dedicate this poem of mine to Ayaan Hirsi Ali and to all the women who are fighting for Tikkun Olam.http://www.art-gallery-yona.com/slide-show-girl.html
Pls. read the poem and enter the Att. shown here. At this link appears a brief article on the sources of rage and violence. And a video I made for the poem.

A little girl of six
Who learned to read
Only A and B
And in Arabic, perhaps, this reads differently,
A little girl only six years old
Was murdered,
Ssssss…
Murdered by her father and her mother
In the name of family honor
Whose spirit
Had already been murdered
At the hands of foreign
Rapists
A little girl of only six
Murdered,
Ssssss…
Murdered
Time
After
Time
A little girl of six.
Little girl
Of
Shhhhhsix…

This poem was originally written in Hebrew.
In the video I read it in my voice and in my language, Hebrew.

The poem was written after a real event.
Six-year-old girl brutally raped by several boys in an Arab village in Israel.
After that, the girl's parents murdered her according to the Muslim custom of Family Honor.
Cases like these, in different variations, are common all the time in such populations who believe that men are allowed to do everything and women are prohibited from everything.

Half of the population lives in fear of terrorism within the family.
That is why I would like to raise here a new thought on global social processes that are affected from family customs and traditions.

Anyone who believes that a person imposes terrorism on his sisters, his daughters or his wife, will ever stop the terror towards his neighbors or other nations, I recommend him to think about that again.
Anyone who believes that a child that is growing up in a house where his father is allowed to do everything while his mother is allowed only to shut up and serve the will of his father will be trained as a Democrat, I recommend him to think about that again.

Pres. Lawrence: You suck! You have destroyed in a thoughtless, cowardly moment what a fine university has stood for and strived for. For your insensitivity and lack of judgement you should be fired and subject to castration so you might understand and live with what so many countless have endured.